Remembering
by FlamingWolf
Summary: A little jolt to the system is all you need sometimes...
1. Chapter 1

Akihiko was restless. He paced back and forth, his eye on the ring where he would soon be beating the crap out of one of his teammates...and for what? He wasn't a fanatic about the sport! He only got into boxing because...

Because...

Now wasn't that strange? He couldn't remember.

But somehow, he felt strangely fulfilled when boxing. Not because he was boxing, but because there was something he had to do, and it felt like boxing was a step towards that something.

Whatever it was.

Ah, well. Focus. He'd been feeling off since after Winter Break. It was his senior year and if he didn't concentrate...

He didn't even remember what he'd told his homeroom teacher he wanted to do after high school. He'd passed his exams, so he supposed he had a couple of years to take it easy, think things through. He shouldn't be distracted thinking about it now.

The cheers and shrieks set his teeth on edge. He could hear some of the underclassmen- a couple of yearmates, too, for that matter- chanting his name. He shook his head with disgust as he glanced out at them.

There. Just past the girl with the buns...wasn't that one of the girls who lived in his dorm? He didn't really spend much time with any of them. Went on jogs in the evening, watched some TV in his room, hit the sandbag, played with his dog...the stray dog at the shrine, he shouldn't be claiming someone else's pet as his own...

Yeah, Minako was a serious chick, from everything he'd seen of his underclassman, though. Good grades, really popular, on student council and in several clubs and committees.

But what the hell was she doing here? There she was, the light reflecting from the hair things she wore with that brown ponytail. She was sitting quite calmly, her hands folded neatly in her lap. She had her earphones on, like she was trying to tune out everything going on around her.

She looked across at him with her intense eyes, and suddenly...he was both grateful she was there and angry at her for coming.

He entered the ring.

He tuned out everything. The crowd, his teammates, his infuriating underclassman...everything focused on the here, the now...

He couldn't embarrass himself with her watching.

It was over. He didn't remember any of the fight, but his teammates were cheering, the crowd was cheering, and he had somehow done it.

He turned and walked towards her. She stood and walked down the steps, both of them oblivious to anyone or anything else, until she stood before him. He had forgotten how tiny she was.

"I never wanted you to see me like this," He told her. His hands. What was he supposed to do with them? They felt stupid dangling like this.

"That's why I had to come," She said simply.

He remembered. He remembered everything.

There was so much to say. And nothing at all. They looked at each other for a long moment, unconscious of the stares, the sudden silence rippling outward from their little bubble.

"Let's get some ramen. On me." He said, and they walked out of the gym.

Together.


	2. Chapter 2

"This still feels so strange," Akihiko commented, his hand lightly resting on Minako's shoulder, her head in his lap. She yawned and shrugged, lazily flicking through channels on the television. "Don't you have end-of-the-year exams?"

"Not really," She yawned again. She had just been so. tired. lately. "Finished them already, just kind of killing time until the beginning of April. And graduation. So you decided to go to university, huh? I saw your scores- looked pretty decent to me."

"Well...I've got to work hard, right?"

"I thought the whole point of university was to fool around until time to join a company, right?" Minako shrugged and snuggled a little closer.

"I've got to work hard for you," He said seriously, looking down into her face. "I don't have to worry about Tartarus now, but I still have you."

She blushed and squirmed a little, awkward as ever when he got serious. "Aki..." She knew, though. She understood about him, about Ken, about his little sister. It still didn't make the fact that he cared so much to be any less flattering. She cared, too, after all, but she wasn't as adept at expressing it as he was. "I hope we still have time to see each other next year," She said. "I'll be studying for my exams, and you'll have classes, and you'll have to work part time since you can't live in the dorms here anymore."

"We'll make time," He said fiercely. She couldn't resist a little smile.

The front door opened. She quickly sat up, leaning forward as if Tanaka's commercial was of vital importance while he grabbed a book off the coffee table. Ken walked in, looked between them curiously, and then glanced down at his shoes. "Good evening, sempai," He said formally and ran upstairs towards his room.

"Graduation..." Minako mused as soon as she heard the door close behind him. "What do you think, Aki?"

"What do I think about what?"

"You know...the others. Should we tell them?"

Akihiko laughed shortly, his tone humorless."What makes you think they'd believe any of it? I got my memories back, and it's still weird to reconcile everything. I mean, even Koromaru acts friendly and stuff when I go by the shrine, but he...you know..."

"Yeah." Minako agreed with a sigh. "Besides, doesn't it seem like they're all pretty happy? Not knowing, I mean."

"Well, look at how much Mitsuru went through this year. I think she, for one, is happier this way."

Minako squinted at him suspiciously. "Are you really in love with me? I mean, you carried her back from Tartarus that time and..."

He looked hurt. "Minako...Minako, it really isn't like that! She's an old friend- one of my oldest- and..."

She reached over and touched his face, still wondering at the fact that she could. "I know. I know. I'm teasing. I gave her a bunch of crap about liking you, too. I know better than that- I was even there when she broke off with her-" she changed the word she was going to say "-jerk fiance."

"You did?" He thought about that for a moment and then slowly grinned. "I don't think anyone's 'given her crap' since, well, ever. I wish I could've seen her face."

They were still laughing about that when the door opened again. Minako instantly began flipping through a fashion magazine laying on the table and Akihiko went back to his book. Yukari walked in and gave them both a strange look. "Well. Don't you two look cozy." She said. "You could've told me at least. I thought we were friends. You know I wouldn't gossip about you at school. Well, nighty night." She said and trotted up the stairs.

"I miss how things used to be," Minako said sadly. Akihiko wrapped an arm around her shoulders and she snuggled against his side. They watched TV together for a while. Engrossed in an action movie, they didn't hear the door open again and Mitsuru came in. She gave them a grave look, and then turned and shut the door behind herself with deliberation. Akihiko sat up and turned down the volume. "Hey, Mitsuru. You're back kind of late."

Mitsuru looked between them and then said, "Congratulations on your relationship. I hope, however, that you remember to use discretion, Akihiko. If you are too expressive in public like this, it may ruin our underclassman's reputation."

"In public? Mitsuru, this is a dorm lounge. No one except our housemates are going to come in here." Akihiko snorted.

Minako brushed his arm with her hand. "We're sorry, Mitsuru." She said conciliatorily. "We weren't trying to be indecent or anything. We didn't mean to upset you."

"A lady can never be too careful." Mitsuru said and, after giving them another stern look, swept up the stairs.

Akihiko flopped back and turned the volume back up. The door opened for the final time that evening and Junpei slammed it shut behind him. "Whew, is it windy out there. Hey, movie night and no one told me? All right! Did I miss anything?" He started to plop down and then looked at them. "Sorry, am I interrupting anything?"

"Not really," Minako said with a sigh.

"Heh heh. Way to go, Akihiko-sempai! I'll just let you two be!" And then, he leaned over and whispered, "Although wire-fu, man? Ya gotta let the lady pick the movie if you're gonna score!"

Whistling, Junpei wandered up the stairs, hands shoved in his pockets, leaving his backpack on the floor. Akihiko shook his head.

"Unbelievable," He said.

Minako shrugged, then looked mischievous. "Well, you can take the memories out of the man, but you can't take the man out of the memories..."


End file.
